One of the early web’s most recognisable viral animations, featuring dancing badgers, a mushroom and a snake in a hypnotic, endlessly looping Flash classic.

First released online in 2003, Badgers became one of the defining viral hits of the Flash-animation era. Created by British animator Jonti Picking (Mr Weebl), the simple video loops through a sequence of dancing cartoon badgers, a mushroom and, eventually, a snake. Produced using Adobe Flash, then the dominant format for web animation, the work reflects a moment when lightweight, easily shared files shaped how moving images circulated online.

Originally shared on the community site B3ta.com, at a time of slow connection speeds and limited home computing power, the animation travelled across the pre-YouTube internet through email chains, forums and personal websites. Its deliberately lo-fi style and repetitive structure made it instantly recognisable, helping to establish Picking’s comedic voice and influence a generation of online creators.

The animation inspired sequels, remixes and countless parodies, becoming a touchstone of early 2000s internet culture. Decades later, Badgers endures as a reminder of how experimental humour and accessible digital tools helped define the evolution of online video.

Early internet Flash animation featuring dancing badgers with the gradual introduction of Mushrooms and a Snake, originally would have played on a loop.